This conviction helps explain Mr. Ryan’s ambiguity about Mr. Trump, who is already constructing a stabbed-in-the-back narrative that blames the speaker for his likely loss. Mr. Ryan believes the government and economic status quo isn’t merely inherited from the past but borrowed from the future, which American leaders have an obligation to change.

“We have a window, no one knows how long it is, but it’s not long, to fix this trajectory that we’re on, on our own terms as a country,” he explains, adding that “we’re in a vicious cycle: bad economy, bad debt, bad foreign policy, bad politics, so people feel much more insecure, economically and from a security standpoint.

“It doesn’t take much in my opinion, but for some big things to happen, a handful of big reforms, and we can turn ourselves into a virtuous cycle. America can regenerate very quickly,” he continues.

“Do I wish we were having a debate about these ideas right now instead of the latest Twitter storm or WikiLeaks or, you know, personality contest?” Mr. Ryan says. “Yeah, of course I do. But it is what it is.”